Hitching-ring attachment



(No Model.) n

W. 'H. THOMAS. HITUHING RING ATTACHMENT.

Nb. 550,463. v Patented Nov. 26, 1895 INVENTEIFI- v UJITNEEEEE W/(SW(KEM XW/Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM H. THOMAS, OF JENKINTOTVN, PENNSYLVANIA.

HITCHlNG-RING ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,463, dated November26, 1895.

Application filed December 29, 1894. Serial No. 533,338. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, l/VILLIAM H. THOMAS, a citizen of the United States,residing at J enkintown, in the county of Montgomery and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inHitching Ring Attachments, of which the following is a specification. 7

My invention has relation to hitching-rings for live stock, and has forits object the provision of certain new and useful improvements therein.

Heretofore the fastening of devices of this character to awning-posts,&c., has involved the drilling and consequent weakening of such posts,&c.,while being quite a laborious operation and more or less unhandy,particularly after the posts, 850., are up, and requiring specialmachinery or appliances and a skilled mechanic for its accomplishment.

My invention consists of a hitching-rin g attachment of the characterhereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, which is applicable to awning or other posts orpoles, as well as to horizontal rods and bars, tubular fencing, and thelike, without recourse to drilling or otherwise weakening or changingthe structure of the same, and is capable of being secured oneither,while holding the ring in the same and proper position in allcases, through the mere turning of a wrench or other suitable tool,requiring no more skill than is common to persons of ordinaryintelligence,while being a matter of comparatively no work.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is an edge view of the hitching-ringattachment,

the horizontal tubular bar or railing upon which the same is secured,and the ring itself, being in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a sideelevation, partly broken away and in section, of such attachment in useon a verticalpost or pole. Figs. 3 and 4. are plan views of the blanksfrom which the improved ring attachment is formed. Fig. 5 is a plan viewof a modified form of attachment,the vertical post or pole upon whichthe same is secured appearing in horizontal section. Fig. 6 is a planview of the modified attachment and a modified form of ring in use on ahorizontal tubular rod, bar, or fencing.

In said drawings, having reference more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4,the improved ring attachment is seen to be composed of a hinged circularcollar or clamp A, the sections a a of which in the flat or blank are ofthe forms shown, respectively, in Figs. 3 and 4, having similar openings17 b b therein, and a slot 0 intermediate the two last-mentionedopenings, and having the ends a a with which they terminate, coiledaround and interposed one between the others, a pintle a being thenpassed through them, forming a hinge-joint for the clamp or collar, asshown in Figs. 1 and 2. The main portions of these sections, the extentwhereof varies in accordance with the circumference of the particularpost, pole, &c., which they are to jointly encircle, are curved inopposite directions semicircularly, then bent outwardly, as at a a, thelonger section a being continued forwardly considerably in advance ofthat portion or theremainder of the shorter section which forms one enda of said collar or clamp, then curved laterally and around to form thecircular eyes a a, and, finally, bent back upon itself, so as to securethe registry of the circular openings 1) 11 therein with each other andbring the ends of said slot flush, the bending of that part of section ain which the slot 0 is located serving to additionally strengthen thatportion of the clamp or collar which may be designated the shank a andsaid slot in this condition forming a recess 0, which extends inwardlyfrom the plane of said eyes to a point just outside the front edge ofthe end a of said clamp or collar.

In practice it is desirable that the hitchingring D shall hang fiatwise,or with its face out, instead of edgewise, when not .in use, and shouldswing outwardly in the plane illustrated in the various figures of thedrawings, whether the support therefor be vertical or horizontal. Tothis end, when the ring is to be attached to a section E of tubularrailing or other horizontal support, such ring is sprung into the eyes aa between those portions of the forward end of clamp-section a whichform the shank a of the attachment. Then the respective sections of theclamp orcollar are swung apart sufficiently to permit the latter toembrace the railing, whereupon the forward ends of such sections aredrawn together and a bolt passed through the openings 1) b in said shankand the opening I) in the end a of section a, and, through thelmedium ofthe nut b the parts through which said bolt passes are drawn together,as shown in Fig. 1, sufliciently to insure a firm grasp of said railingby said collar or clamp. Onthe other hand, when the post, pole, &c., isupright, while the clamp or collar is secured thereto in the same manneras just described, instead of first passing the ring D between the partswhich compose shank a said ring, in order to compensate for the changedposition of its support, has one side inserted in the recess 0,whenabolt F is passed through eyes a a" and through the ring and the nutf screwed thereonto. Thus said ring is secured in said recess in thesame condition as before, while being as free to swing therein.

Instead of having eyes formed by coiling the forward end of one of theclamp or collar sections, as at a a", and the shank of the attachmenttwofold, as hereinbefore described, eyes 9 g, similar to the eyes lastmentioned, may be cast integral with the shank g of the section G, ofwhich they form a part, as shown in Fig. 5, said shank being ofincreasedthickness over that of such section for strengthening purposesand the latter at its rear end being cast with hollow bosses g3 g whichform this sections part of the hinge, the ring D being inserted in therecess g like the recess 0, which is formed in shank g and secured inthis position by the bolt 11, passed through eyes g g and through saidring and having the nut h screwed thereonto in the same n1anner as inthe form of attachment shown in Fig. 2.

The other section G may be produced in any suitable manner and is hingedto section G through the medium of the pintle g, and the respectivesections of the modified form of attachment are secured in clampingrela* tion with the post, pole, &c., by the bolt Ill, passed throughregistering openings in shank g and the forward end g of section G. Whenthe support for this form of attachment is horizontal, however, a loopI, provided with flattened endsz' 2', adapted to embrace the eyes g g,through which latter and said ends said bolt H is passed, may beemployed, the same having liberty of swinging motion on such bolt in thedesired manner.

What I claim as my invention is as follows:

1. Ahitchin g ring attachment consisting of a sectional hinged clamphaving one of its sections provided 011 the end opposite the hingethereof with a slot and eyes in the side wall of said slot, a boltpassing through said eyes and a connecting bolt for the ends of thesections adjacent said slot, said eyes being formed of a bent end of oneof the sections and said parts being combined substantially asdescribed.

2. In ahitching-ring attachment, the combination of a clamp or collarhaving one end turned upon itself to form eyes for reception of suchring, then brought into close relation with its main portion andprovided with a recess which extends across the openings of said eyesfor reception of said ring, a bolt or retainer passing through the eyeand ring when the latter is in said recess and a similar fasteningpassing through the respective ends of the clamp or collar when inposition for use, substantially as specified.

I11 testimony-whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 12th day ofOctober, A. D. 1894.

WILLIAM H. THOMAS. \Vitnesses:

WM. II. POWELL, R. DALE SPARHAVVK.

